Ernest Frédéric Schneider was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, on 15 April 1921, the fourth of five children. He served in the Swiss army from the early 1940s, first in the Fribourg signal corps and then in the 7th Infantry Regiment, and during the Second World War was posted to the Federal Arms Factory in Bern. He later rose to major in 1959, commanded the 15th Fusilier Battalion and served on the general staff of the 10th Fortress Brigade. He was also a pilot.
In the early 1960s, after the death of his father-in-law Théodore Sfaellos, he took over the management of the Sicura watch company in Grenchen (Granges). By the mid-1970s it had four assembly plants, a case factory and a jewellery factory, and it produced electronic and quartz watches, including LCD and solar-powered models.
During the quartz crisis Willy Breitling, in declining health, refused to merge his company and looked for a successor who would keep it independent. On 5 April 1979 he and Schneider signed the agreement transferring the Breitling and Navitimer names. Production moved to Sicura's works in Grenchen, which became Montres Breitling and in 1994 Breitling AG. In 1980 Schneider bought the La Chaux-de-Fonds complications maker Kelek, later absorbed into Breitling. He positioned the brand around "Instruments for Professionals", using quartz for precision while keeping mechanical watchmaking. In 1983 Breitling won the tender to make the official chronograph of the Italian aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori, whose rider-tab bezel and Rouleaux bracelet became the Chronomat of 1984, credited with reviving the mechanical chronograph. The Aerospace followed in 1985 and the Emergency in 1995.
He died on 5 May 2015. His son Théodore led Breitling after him; in 2017 the family sold 80% to CVC Capital Partners, and the remaining 20% in 2018.
English Wikipedia's article on him carries a warning about unreliable sources and places Sicura in the canton of Valais; Grenchen is in the canton of Solothurn. Wikipedia says Théodore Schneider took over after his father's death in 2015, while other accounts have him leading the company earlier.